Abstract: An integrated processor design includes physical interface macros supporting heterogeneous electrical properties. The processor design comprises a plurality of processing cores and a plurality of physical interfaces to connect to a memory interface, a peripheral component interconnect express (PCI Express or PCIe) interface for input/output, an Ethernet interface for network communication, and/or a serial attached SCSI (SAS) interface for storage. Each physical interface may be programmatically connected to a selected interface controller, such as a memory controller, a PCI Express controller, or an Ethernet controller, for example. A plurality of such controllers may be connected to a switch within the processor design, with the switch also being connected to each physical interface macro. Thus, the physical interface macros may be programmatically connected to a subset of the plurality of controllers.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 13, 2008
Date of Patent:
December 11, 2012
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
Ravi K. Arimilli, Claude Basso, Jean L. Calvignac, Daniel M. Dreps, Edward J. Seminaro